The tech world was taken by surprise yesterday. After negotiations and a refusal to join Twitter’s board of directors, Elon Musk has officially acquired Twitter (NYSE:TWTR).
The board of Twitter and Musk negotiated the initial bid made at the beginning of the month, and it was accepted on Monday 25th.
On April 4th, the world’s richest man bought 9.1% of Twitter’s total shares, which led him to become the largest shareholder of the social media platform. He was then invited to become part of the board of directors under one condition – he couldn’t own more than 15% of the total shares.
Musk refused to join the board after the imposed condition, at which point speculation was already circulating about his next move on Twitter.
On April 14th, the billionaire made an offer to buy the platform at $54.20 per share, totaling a $44 billion deal – the biggest social media acquisition to date after Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) acquired LinkedIn for $26.2 billion.
“As a result, I am offering to buy 100% of Twitter for $54.20 per share in cash, a 54% premium over the day before I began investing in Twitter and a 38% premium over the day before my investment was publicly announced. My offer is my best and final offer and if it is not accepted, I would need to reconsider my position as a shareholder,” Musk stated.
What’s the Future of Twitter?
Significant changes for Twitter seem to be coming. Musk’s tweets in the last weeks dropping several hints to the platform’s users: there will be changes for freedom of speech, open code, an “edit button,” and content/advertisement moderation.
“I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe, and I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy," Musk wrote in a letter sent to Twitter Chairman Bret Taylor.
The billionaire believes that Twitter needs to go private. According to the mogul, it fails to “strive nor serve” free speech. During a TED talk on April 14th (the day he made his offer public), he mentioned that the social media platform needs more clarity in its rules and algorithms, and claimed that he isn’t interested in making a profit.
Yesss!!! pic.twitter.com/0T9HzUHuh6TSLA— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 25, 2022
Over the past decades, Elon Musk hasn’t invested in projects that weren’t game-changers in the industry, so a new and unexpected turn could come at any moment to the social media.
On the Flipside
- Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is set to make $978 million from Musk’s buyout.
- Twitter stocks are currently trading at $51.70 as of this writing, making an increase of over 30% in the last month. Meanwhile, Elon’s favorite cryptocurrency, Dogecoin, also surged by over 14% in the last 24 hours.